September, 11, 01
by TomBoyBookGirl
Summary: On September, 11, 2001, Clary Morgenstern is a financial worker for Baseline Financial Services, assigned to her new office on the 77th floor in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Her boyfriend, Jace Herondale is a NY Firefighter. It was a day started like any other for them, who knew what horror and devastation could come in as little as 20 minutes? Cover image not mine
1. Chapter 1

**This is short but I started this last year and never finished. I plan to though! I needed something to help me with my writers block so I decided to work on this again!**

 **This is not meant to disrespect any of the people who lost their lives this day 14 years ago.**

 **Enjoy!**

September, 11, 2001

South Tower 8:25 am

21 minutes till impact on North Tower

Clary stepped out of the elevator onto the 77th floor of the South tower and walked down the hall to her new office. She worked for Baseline Financial Services and had just been moved to her new office in the World Trade Center. She opened the door to her office. It was big and there were about 3 or 4 other desks around the room, only one had a person sitting at it.

The woman had caramel skin and dark curly hair, she was fairly tall compared to Clary, but then again, Clary was only 5.2 feet tall. "Hi!" she said turning around on her chair. "You must be Clary." Clary nodded and took the woman's out stretched hand. "That's me." She said smiling shyly. "I'm Maia."

"Your desk is just over there, by the window." She said pointing to the small, dark wood desk and office chair in front of a huge window. "Thank you." She said and looked towards the window. "Wow." She breathed walking towards the window. She looked around, smiling at the gorgeous view she had.

"You won't be starting work till tomorrow so you can set up and get comfy." Maia said with a smile. Clary smiled back. "Thanks." She said walking to her desk, as Maia kept typing. Clary sat down in her chair and opened her bag, pulling out a framed picture of her and Jace at Christmas last year. She had a Santa hat on and had jumped on Jace's back, holding mistletoe above his head as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. They were so happy that night.

September, 11, 2001

South Tower 8:41 am

5 minutes till impact on North Tower

Clary had just finished setting up her desk and sat back in her chair drinking her coffee that Maia had brought her. There was a loud knock at the door before it was flung open, and her two old friends, Isabelle and Simon walked in. Izzy raced over to Clary and attacked her in a huge hug. "I missed you SO much!" Izzy squealed. Clary laughed and hugged her back. After Izzy finally let Clary go she walked over to Simon and gave him a hug. "It's so good to see you." He said.

Clary smiled, and then pulled away. "What are you guys doing here?" she asked. Simon smiled. "Izzy got a new desk in her office upstairs for FCB and I was helping her get it setup, then I heard you were downstairs in your office and once we finished we raced down to see you!" Clary was about to respond when her cell phone rang. She picked it up and the caller ID read: Jace. She picked it up.

"Hey Jace!" she said sitting down in her chair.

 _Hey Clare-Bear._ He replied. It sounded like he was in the car, probably headed off to his shift at the Fire department.

"What's up?" she asked, switching her phone to her other ear and grabbing her coffee.

 _Just wanted to see how you're doing. And to ask for your office phone number so I can call you at work if I need to._ He said, the noise of the car rumbling in the background.

"Ok. It's **(A/N: Just doing random numbers here :P)** 905-345-1938." She replied taking a sip of her coffee.

 _Ok, I'll…_ "Hi Jace!" Izzy yelled, cutting Jace off. Clary heard him chuckle on the other line. _Hey Iz._ He said.

Clary held the phone away from her ear and put her hand over it. "He says hi." She said smiling up at Izzy, who had been pulled into a one arm hug by Simon.

 _I'll talk to you later. Love you._ He said.

"Love you too." She replied. "Bye." And she hung up.

Simon looked away from Izzy for a minute and up at Clary. "Wanna come up and check out our view of the North tower?" he asked.

Izzy just looked at him. "Si, its literally a wall!" He just shrugged. "There's a pretty good view around it though." He implied. "Plus it looks good at this time if day."

Clary chuckled. "Sure! If its ok with Maia." Maia looked up from her work and smiled. "Go ahead!" She said shooing her with her hand. "I'll meet you up there in a few."

Clary smiled. "Thanks Maia!" Clary called as Izzy pulled her out the door to the elevator.

September, 11, 2001

South Tower 8:45 am

1 minute till impact on North Tower

Clary and Izzy stepped out of the elevator and hurried into Izzy's office. Simon slowly followed behind them before turning into the break room for some coffee.

As soon as Clary entered the office, she was blown away by a huge window, bigger than the one in her office, that took over two walls. One side had a view of the city from behind the North Tower and the other, that had a breathtaking view of the city skyline.

"Wow Iz..." Clary breathed. She could get used to this view. "Pretty amazing huh darling?" A voice said from behind. Clary turned to see Magnus Bane himself. "Magnus!" She squealed giving him a hug. Her and Magnus were close friends until him and his boyfriend Alec, who worked at the Police department and was Izzy's older brother, went on a trip around the world and lost contact with, well, everyone.

"Its been forever! How've you been?" She asked letting go of him. He smiled. "I've been good little red." He said shoving his hands in his pockets. "The view of your office is amazing!" Clary said looking back out the window. She then squinted and moved closer to the window.

"Is that a plane?" She asked pointing at the white line that kept coming closer, and closer, and closer.

Izzy screamed and then...

The plane was flying too low.

The North Tower had been hit.


	2. Chapter 2

**Omg the response to this story was amazing! And to all of you who asked, yes I am continuing! I don't know how long this story will be but there should be around 5-8 chapters. Enjoy!**

 **September, 11, 2001**

 **South Tower 8:46 am**

 **15 seconds after impact on North Tower**

 **19 minutes until impact on South Tower**

The building shook for a good 15 seconds. Directly after impact, Clary, Izzy, Simon and Magnus had hit the floor. Simon was clutching Isabelle as if his life depended on it, Magnus had hid behind his desk and Clary had been knocked over by the force of the plane entering the tower.

"Is everyone ok?" Magnus called stepping out from under his desk. His once pink dress shirt and blue tie were covered in glitter. Izzy was the first to get up after Simon let go of her and was looking out the window where a huge black smoke cloud was drifting towards them. She put a hand over her mouth and took in a sharp gasp. She turned around, her eyes scanning the room to see if everyone was okay. Then they landed on Magnus. Covered in glitter.

"MAGNUS!" She screamed. "I TOLD YOU NO MORE GLITTER IN THE OFFICE!" She looked mad, but it soon faded as she remembered what had happened just moments ago. "Never mind. Let's just get out of here." She walked over to her desk, grabbing her phone, laptop and purse.

Clary stood up with the help of Simon and walked over to the window. There was a lot of smoke and there were orange flames climbing out the broken windows. "Oh my god..." she whispered placing a hand over her mouth.

Simon looked about as shocked as she did. "Iz is right." He said. "We should go." He then slowly backed away to help Izzy gather her things.

Clary walked over to Magnus' desk and began picking up the empty glitter containers. Once they finished getting their stuff, they walked into the hallway towards the elevator when the PA came on. "Attention, please. Stay in your office's. There is no case of emergency. Please remain calm. Thank you."

Clary threw her hands in the air. "What are they thinking!? There's smoke coming in and it's getting harder to breathe." She said coughing as she went along.

Isabelle coughed. "I don't care what they say but I'm getting out of here." She said, grabbing Simon's arm. She looked to Magnus and Clary. "You coming?"

Magnus nodded and walked over to them, Clary stayed put. "You guys go ahead." She said. "I'm gonna go get Maia."

Isabelle was about to protest, but decided against it. She nodded. "Meet you out front?" She asked.

Clary smiled and nodded, giving Isabelle the reassurance she needed to leave. Clary walked to the stairs, finding it faster than taking the elevator and made it down to her office.

 **September, 11, 2001**

 **South Tower 8:55 am**

 **9 minutes after impact on North Tower**

 **8 minutes until impact on South Tower**

"Maia?" Clary called, reaching her office. "Maia you here?" The smoke wasn't as thick down there, but still enough to scratch at your throat.

"Over here!" Maia called, walking towards Clary. "I heard a crash and the whole building shook. Then smoke started clouding in. What happened?"

"A plane just crashed into the North Tower." Clary said, a hint of panic in her tone. "We need to go."

Maia gave her a puzzled look. "But they just said that there was no emergency. That we should stay here."

Clary nodded. "I know. But I-I just don't think it's safe."

Maia sighed. "Give me a few minutes." She said. "I'll finish up and then we can leave."

Clary nodded. She walked to her desk and sat down, thinking over what she had witnessed. _Jace is going to get the call for this._ She just hoped he wouldn't go up.

 **September, 11, 2001**

 **South Tower 9:01 am**

 **15 minutes after impact on North Tower**

 **2 minutes until impact on South Tower**

Maia finished up her work and packed a few of her things. She seemed stressed and hurried to leave as smoke started to waft into their office. The faint ringing of sirens and screams could be heard and added to the uneasiness.

"Okay." Maia said with a sigh, throwing her laptop bag over her shoulder. "Let's go."

Clary nodded and grabbed her bag as well, but just before they stepped out the door Clary's office phone rang. Her and Maia stopped in the doorway and looked at the ringing phone.

"I'll get it. You go ahead. I'll meet you down there." Clary said looking over her shoulder at Maia.

Maia nodded. "Okay. See you soon. Oh, and don't forget to take the stairs!" She called as she walked out the door and down the hall.

Clary picked up the phone and held it to her ear, resting her bag on the chair.

"Hello?" she asked.

" _Clary? Are you there? Are you alright?_ " A frantic voice asked. That voice belonged to none other than Jace.

"Yeah. I'm fine." She said. She pulled the phone away from her ear a bit because a loud mix of sirens and yelling came through the line. "What is all that? Where are you?"

" _I'm in one of the trucks. I'm on my way there. Do you know what's happened?_ "

"Yeah. I was up in Isabelles office with Magnus and Simon wh-when it... happened." She said the last part hesitantly, thinking back to how the building had shook when the plane hit.

 _"Can you please get out of there and go home? I don't want you anywhere near the North Tower. This is really, really bad!"_

He started to sound panicked, which was very unlike him so Clary knew she had to go.

"I've already packed up. I'll be leaving soon." She responded reassuringly.

She heard a loud noise coming through the phone at a steady pace. She moved the phone away from her ear and heard it as well, only quieter. It was like a humming, in a way.

"Jace," she asked hesitantly. "What's that noise?" She walked to the window and looked out, trying to see if she could see what was making the noise.

Then she saw it. A small, silver object growing bigger and bigger each passing second. She soon realized that it wasn't growing. It was _coming_. And she knew what it was.

" _It's just a pla- oh god._ " Jace said through the phone.

Clary only stared in shock and horror as it approached.

" _Clary get out of there!"_

It came closer, she could see the wings on the aircraft grow larger and tilt slightly to the right.

" _CLARY RUN!"_

The phone fell from her hands and smashed against the ground, causing the line to go dead.

 **September, 11, 2001**

 **Greenwich St 9:03 am**

 **17 minutes after impact on North Tower**

 **10 seconds until impact on South Tower**

The truck was heading down W Greenwich St towards the South Tower when the loud noise of a passing aircraft filled the air. But it wasn't passing, it flew straight towards the upper levels of the South Tower. It tilted to the right before smashing into the tower and exploding into a ball of fire and debris that rained down to the ground.

Jace froze in the front seat, phone resting limply in his hand as he listened to the never ending beep of the dead line and watched the plane make contact with the building.

Hot clouds of fire, smoke and debris rained down from the building and screams echoed from all around them as they watched. That was all they could do.

At that moment, their lives changed. At that moment, they were terrified. At that moment, they knew it wasn't an accident. And at that moment, they knew that hundreds were dead. Or dying. Or going to die today.

Jace threw the phone at the dash, not caring that it smashed on impact. He kicked the dadh and groaned in frustration, leaning back against the seat, hands in his hair. He took deep breaths, trying to calm himself as millions of questions spun in his head.

 _Is she okay? Why was there another plane? Who caused this? What if she's dead? What about Isabelle and Simon and Magnus? What-_

"Jace, what's going on?" a voice asked from the back of the truck, snapping Jace out of his thoughts.

It was Jonathan Morgenstern. Clarys older brother. He'd been working with the Fire Department for just over a year now and he and Jace became pretty close. It's also how Jace met Clary.

 _What do I say? How do I tell him when I don't even know?_

"A plane just hit the South Tower." answered the voice of Sebastian Verlac, who was driving the truck at the time of impact.

Jonathan's eyes widened. "Is Clary okay?"

Jace said nothing and rested his head in his hands.

"Jace is clary okay?!" Jonathan yelled.

" _I DON'T KNOW!"_ Jace yelled, slamming his fist onto the dash, hard. **(Seriously man, calm down you're gonna break something!)**

He took a deep breath, calming himself before sitting up. "Let's just get up there, and get whoever we can out."

Everyone nodded as they pulled up to the towers. They hopped out of the truck and landed on shattered glass and debris crunching under their feet.

The Chief walked up to them, quickened pace and blank expression.

"Listen up!" he said. "I need three groups! One to go up the North Tower, on for the South, and one for the ground to help out." He turned to the men. "Harrison, Andrews, Fournier, Morgenstern and Robinson, head up the South Tower. Jameson, Herondale, Cameron, Turner and Samuels, head up the North Tower. Verlac, Port and the rest of you stay on the ground. Move out!"

Jace looked up at the South Tower, watching as ash, dust and flames spewed out of the building where the plane had made impact. One thought went through his head. _I need to get up there._

 **That's all for now!**

 **-TBBG**


	3. Chapter 3

**Holy cow you guys love this story! I NEVER expected the response I got. BTW, what happens to Clary is based off what happened to a man who had the plane crash through his office I am also SO sorry for not updating! Darn exams and projects and UGH! Sometimes I hate you high school… Here is chapter 3!**

 **September, 11, 2001**

 **South Tower 9:03 am**

 **17 minutes after impact on North Tower**

 **1 second before impact on South Tower**

Isabelle, Simon and Magnus were making their way down one of the main stairwells in the South Tower when the building shook violently with an enormous explosion. It felt as if the building had moved a good four feet in all directions.

Simon had been stepping towards the bottom step before the landing on the 61st floor when the explosion happened, causing him to tumble forwards and land on the landing with a thud. Isabelle and Magnus were right behind him, Magnus holding the railing and Isabelle stepping forward just ahead of him, causing Magnus to slip backwards whilst still holding the railing and Isabelle to fall forwards, landing half on Simon and half on the floor.

When the shaking stopped after a few seconds they each let out a pained groan from their tumbles to the floor.

"What the hell was that!?" Magnus said, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head where it had made contact with the stairs.

Isabelle pushed herself off of Simon and sat on the floor next to him. "You okay?" she asked quietly.

Simon sat up with a groan and nodded. "Yeah…" he trailed off, wincing as his wrist bent to feel his chin that had a bruise forming on it.

"Do you think it came from the other tower?" Isabelle asked, looking up at Magnus before standing up.

Magnus shook his head. "It sounded like it came from out building. It felt too close to be from the North Tower."

"Well whatever it was," Simon said, using his good wrist on the railing to push himself into a standing position (with Isabelle's help, of course). "It can't be good. We need to keep moving."

Magnus looked back up the stairwell where the hurried shuffling of shoes and heels mixed with worried murmurs began to flood their hearing. "What about Clary and Maia?" he asked.

Isabelle looked up as well, hearing many people making their way down. "They'll be fine. They should already be on their way." She took a breath, nodding to herself. "They'll be fine." she said. _Hopefully_.

 **September, 11, 2001**

 **77th floor South Tower 9:03 am**

 **17 minutes after impact on North Tower**

 **1 seconds until impact on South Tower**

Clary dropped the phone in shock. She stood frozen. Without even thinking, she got to the ground and crawled under her desk just as the wing of the plane crashed through her office.

She screamed as the building shook violently. Hot air spread throughout the room and smoke clouded in. The noise was something else.

Metal against metal creaked and the loud banging of the explosion was like 500 fireworks going off at once. Then there were the screams. Not her own, but of the people in the building below her. Any screams from above were cut off abruptly.

They were dead.

She sat there for a minute. And another. And another. Until finally, she opened her clenched eyes. They stung as smoke brushed them, causing her to shut them again and she choked on the air as it had smoke piling in.

She looked out from around her desk at where the plane wing had made contact and saw a hole in the floor. A long, uneven slit to be exact. She backed away from it, worried that the floor would crumble under her weight.

She took a shaky breath before coughing from the smoke. She's been staring at the floor and didn't notice the inferno above her in the upper floors. When she looked up she knew that everyone up there was dead.

And she should be too.

 _I've got to be dreaming! I'm dead! There's no way I'm still alive._ Yet, there she is. Sitting in a slowly burning building where a plane crashed into it only 20 minutes after one crashed into the Tower.

She screamed for help, but heard nothing. She couldn't hear herself scream. She was temporarily deaf. But that didn't stop her. She screamed and cried hoping someone would hear and help her. She screamed a few more times before stopping to cough up more smoke. Looking around she saw the door out of the office was thankfully not blocked.

She shakily got to her feet, nearly falling a few times and having to use her desk for support, and made her way to the door. She was almost hypnotized by the muffled sounds of her footsteps towards the door. They didn't even sound real.

She reached the door and tried to pull it open. It jerked forward an inch before stopping and refusing to move. She slammed her fist against the door and leaned against it, trying to open it the other way. Sure enough, it opened. Just not when Clary expected it to.

The door flung open and Clary was flung face first onto the carpet floor. She elevated herself with her arms, looking around. She coughed and recoiled towards the door as she saw an even larger inferno a few feet to her left, roaring and crackling as it burned whatever had been in its place moments before.

That was when she realized she could hear again. The roaring flames next to her were growing faster and louder as the oxygen from her office came through the open door and fueling it more.

She took a breath, coughing lightly before using the doorframe to support herself as she attempted to stand. She was thankful for wearing flats instead of heels to work that morning. She began to walk towards the stairs on her right but stumbled as she found her legs shaking out of shock. She took a few deep breaths, coughing at the smoke she inhaled and walked swiftly to the door, grasping the handle tightly.

She yanked on the door, using all her strength, and the door refused to move. That was when she realized that the ceiling had lowered itself about 4 inches, blocking the door. She knew she couldn't pull the door open with the ceiling blocking it, so she grasped the handle again and pushed her body against the door.

She coughed from smoke inhalation and continued to push on the door, using all her weight to open the door. She backed away, breathing heavy from the lack of clean air and kicked the door as hard as she could. The ball and heel of her foot stung when she put it back on the floor but she ignored it. She then went back to pushing on the door as hard as she could, and to her surprise it opened. But the sudden movement caught her off guard and she went tumbling down onto the stair landing.

When she landed, her arms didn't have enough time to prepare for her landing and they failed, causing her to land harshly on her chest, knocking the wind out of her. She lay there for a moment, breathing in the cleaner air and slowly rising to her feet. She gripped the stair landing tightly and slowly began to descend the stairs.

 **September, 11, 2001**

 **Base of the Towers 9:06 am**

 **20 minutes after impact on North Tower**

 **3 minutes after impact on South Tower**

Jace walked over to the Chief as the other members of his group prepared to climb the North Tower. He waited for the Chief to finish giving his ordered to a second group of men before speaking.

"Sir," he said. "I think they could use more assistance in the South Tower. I should be heading up there."

"Herondale, you are heading up the North Tower. It was hit first and requires more assistance." the Chief said, turning to the side and ordering a group of men towards the North and South Towers.

"Sir, I really think-"

"I gave you an order, Jonathan! I do not have time to argue with you! People are dying and I need you to get your ass up the North Tower before anything begins to collapse!" he yelled. "Now move out!" the Chief yelled, pointing behind him at the North Tower.

Jace was hesitant to speak but agreed. "Yes, sir."

The Chief nodded and walked off in the opposite direction. Jace turned towards the South Tower, where Jonathan and his group were preparing for their climb up the tower. Jonathan noticed Jace approaching hastily and walked over to meet him.

Jace took a breath. "Do you know what floor Clary's on?" he asked.

Jonathan shook his head. "No, she said she was gonna call me later today, but…" he trailed off, looking up at the smoke bellowing out of the tower.

Sighing, Jace continued. "She was on the 77th floor when I called. Either she's trapped up there, on her way down or…" he stopped, shaking his head. _Don't think like that._

"I'll look for her. Go tell Sebastian to keep an eye out for her incase she makes it out." Jonathan said, starting to walk back to his group.

Jace gave him a nod. "Okay." he said quietly, slowly turning away towards the North Tower.

"Jace," Jonathan called, stopping Jace in his tracks as they faced each other. "We'll find her. She's smart. She'll be okay. Heck, she's probably half way down those stairs right now!" with the last line he smiled in reassurance.

Jace gratefully smiled back. "Good luck, man. And stay safe."

Jonathan nodded. "You too."

And that was the last time they saw each other.

 **September, 11, 2001**

 **76th floor South Tower 9:06 am**

 **20 minutes after impact on North Tower**

 **3 minutes after impact on South Tower**

Clary hurried down the stairs to the 76th floor of the South Tower, breathing heavily and stumbling every couple of steps. Her legs burned and shook as she descended, making her thankful she was going down the stairs and not up. She coughed slightly and stopped on the landing of the 76th floor for a breather. It was only one flight but due to the shock of the crash and smoke inhalation she was fairly weak. She leaned against the door and took deep breaths, thankful that the air in the stairwell was cleaner than the air in her office, not by much but it was better. She was beginning to breath clearly again.

Just as she was becoming more relaxed she felt a large thumb on the door, causing her eyes to fly wide and leap forward slightly before turning around. Behind her she saw a man, with a fairly large group of people trapped on that floor, some still walking in and out of their offices with fire extinguishers. At first Clary didn't know why, but she soon saw smoke and a faint orange glow coming from the far end of the office. She looked back to the man in front of the window, he was saying something but they were extremely muffled through the door and the fact that her hearing was still coming back.

"What?!" she asked, quite loudly. "I can't quite hear you!"

The man took a breath, coughing slightly. " _Can you open the door?!_ " he yelled, it was just audible through the door.

Clary nodded, grabbing the handle and pulling as hard as she could. The door was stuck in place, even more so than hers. She pulled harder and harder and the door didn't budge.

"Push!" she yelled to the man, hoping that if he pushed the door might move.

They spent a few more minutes pushing and pulling on the door but if didn't move an inch. Clary stepped back, grasping the railing and taking deep breaths. The man was breathing heavy as well, coughing from the smoke in their office, there was so much Clary could see it coming out from under the slim gap under the door. The man looked at her, his eyes pleading for her to help took a breath, trying to think of a way to get them out. She then turned her attention back to the man and walked over to the door.

"I'm gonna go get help!" she yelled. "My brother works for the fire department! I know them! I'll go down and get some help!"

The man was saying something along the lines of ' _yes_!' and ' _go_!' while coughing into his elbow a few times. He nodded violently to her and gestured towards the stairs saying ' _go_!'.

Clary nodded to him and turned to the stairs. Before she placed her foot on the first step she turned back to face the man and his colleagues in the office and yelled "I'll be back!"

 **Yay new chapter! Haza! This took a while to write but it's out now so who cares!? Anyone reading Remains I will update soon! (Hopefully) And I just saw Kung Fu Panda 3 the other day and OMG IT WAS EPIC! Anyway, I'll try not to leave you guys hanging so much from now on! How does one chapter for each story a week sound? I'm gonna give it a shot! See ya when I see ya!**

 **-TBBG**


End file.
